1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorcycle that includes a body frame having at least a pair of right and left or front and rear frame members, a storage box that is open upward among the pairing frame members, and a riding seat that covers the opening end of the storage box from above. More particularly to a storage box structure and a method of mounting a storage box.
In addition, the present invention relates to a motorcycle having: a storage box which is arranged below an openable and closable occupant seat and which permits storage and take-out of goods while the occupant seat is open. A fuel tank is stored in a floor tunnel which is arranged between a pair of left and right foot rest parts where an occupant places his or her feet and which projects upward. An oil-feed lid is openably and closably disposed at the floor tunnel part and which covers an oil-feed cap openably and closably attached to a top part of the fuel tank.
2. Description of Background Art
JP-A No. 2005-207038 discloses a motorcycle in which a storage box is inserted from above and arranged between a pair of right and left upper down frames and a pair of right and left seat rails that compose a part of a body frame.
When the storage box is arranged between the pair of right and left upper down frames and the pair of right and left seat rails, the width of the storage box is limited by the space between the pair of right and left upper down frames and the pair of right and left seat rails. Therefore, the storage capacity of the storage box is limited, and the limitation is imposed on the shape of the storage box. JP-A No. 2005-207038 discloses that a bulging portion extending frontwardly and downwardly is provided at the lower part of the front end of the storage box so as to form a storage space of an electronic component. However, the width of the bulging portion is limited by the space between the pair of right and left upper down frames, so that the capacity is increased only by extending the dimension of the bulging portion to the front. Therefore, it is difficult in the motorcycle to secure the space for increasing the storage capacity of the electronic component between the frame members such as the pair of right and left upper down frames.
In a motorcycle disclosed in JP-A No. 2005-207038, the rear end of an oil-feed lid is disposed at a floor tunnel part in such a manner as to cover an oil-feed port of a fuel tank stored in the floor tunnel part in front of an occupant seat that is attached to a vehicle body frame via a hinge mechanism so as to be capable of being openable and closable from the front side of the motorcycle. A hinge mechanism is provided between the front end of the occupant seat and the front end of a storage box covered by the occupant seat so as to make the occupant seat openable and closable from the rear side of the motorcycle.
However, in the motorcycle disclosed in JP-A No. 2005-207038, the hinge mechanism for the oil-feed lid and the hinge mechanism for the occupant seat are so arranged as to oppose each other in the front-rear direction of the motorcycle. Thus, an attempt to extend the front end of the storage box forward in order to gain the capacity of the storage box only permits the forward extension of the front end of the storage box only within a range in which both hinge mechanisms do not interfere with each other, which limits an increase in the capacity of the storage box. Moreover, it is also required to fit the hinge mechanism for the occupant seat, the hinge mechanism for the oil-feed lid, and the front end of the storage box on the vehicle frame side. The close proximity among both hinge mechanisms and the front end of the storage box makes it difficult to ensure an attaching plate part to be attached to the vehicle frame, which also probably restricts the vehicle frame layout.